After a disappointing performance due to poor shot selection on Australia tour, Rishabh Pant started the series against England in a spectacular style. He once again showed his extraordinary talent by scoring a brilliant century in the Leeds Test. One of Pant’s childhood coaches, Devendra Sharma (with the late Tarak Sinha), attributes this return to the reforms made by the wicketkeeper batsman in his defensive technology and shot selection.
Sharma said in an exclusive interview to the news agency PTI video, “After failing in Australia, he made a lot of changes in his defensive technology and also restrained in playing strokes, as you can watch in this match. Pant is a match winner. He further said, ‘Before going to England, we discussed his defense because the tour of Australia did not go well. We decided that he would play less shots and pay more attention to batting. The circumstances of England are different, the ball moves more there.
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In the first innings of the Leeds Test, Pant played a wonderful innings of 134 runs, in which he made a variety of attractive shots and showed how hard he has worked behind the scenes. During this innings, Pant left Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind and held the record of scoring the most centuries as Indian wicketkeeper in Test cricket. This was his seventh Test century, which he made on the second day of the first match of the series.
This is not Pant’s first century in England. He also scored a century in the earlier visit to England. Devendra Sharma credited Pant’s success in England’s difficult circumstances to his “ability to play with enough time” and “the style of batting a little back”.
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He said, he had scored a century in England last time too. When he bats, he has a lot of time, which is a big reason for succeeding in England. He plays from the second line, which benefits him. He said that I think Rishabh is a player who can play in all three formats. He is not in the team right now, but I am confident that he will return after the failure of the IPL. If you are a good player, you will definitely perform.